


Mother and Son

by Himring



Series: Outsiders of Gondolin [4]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Foreshadowing, Gen, Gondolin, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-03-18 00:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13670559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Himring/pseuds/Himring
Summary: Drabbles about Aredhel and Maeglin.





	1. White in the Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Currently these are about their journey from Nan Elmoth to Gondolin.  
> The chapter I added at the latest update is chapter 1, not chapter 2.
> 
> Now added to the Outsiders of Gondolin series, although these drabbles can be read independently.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maeglin and Aredhel leave Nan Elmoth

He stepped out of the eaves of the forest and blinked, squinting over the plain. Behind him, he heard her breathe out deeply, like a sigh. He turned and saw her stand tall in the sunlight.  
  
_As a child I thought it was just the way things were. All our secrets were games we played, never a conspiracy against the jailer. That is what she wanted me to see, so much that she had lost sight of the truth herself, perhaps._  
  
_Only when I grew up, made my own bid for freedom, did I see how she had been held._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 x 100 words in MS Word.  
> Written for the prompt "White Lady" at Tolkien Weekly.
> 
> As is evident from elsewhere in my stories, I'm inclined to take a dark view of "not wholly unwilling".
> 
> I do understand the motives of those who detect Noldorin prejudice and want to write a revisionist account.


	2. Outside Gondolin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aredhel and Maeglin are about to enter Gondolin.

In the middle of a wilderness of rocks, Aredhel stopped. ‘I must change.’ She took off the dun kirtle she had taken from her chest when Maeglin first spoke of flight and stood revealed in white again. Maeglin watched, bewildered.

‘They might not know me, in such a novel manner of dress,’ she explained. He detected reluctant shame in her face. It was unanticipated; his heart lurched, fearing she was ashamed of him, too.

She caught his wrist, strongly. ‘You are my son, my son’, she said. ‘But stay safe, stay behind me, until we are sure of our welcome.’

 

At last, they stood at the foot of the cliff.

‘Here,’ said Aredhel, indicating the mouth of the tunnel.

‘Here?’ echoed Maeglin, and although it was he who had urged the destination of their flight at the outset, suddenly he was in doubt, wishing that they could have ridden on together, fast and free in the sunlight, just the two of them, without stopping anywhere at all.

‘Is there no other way?’ he asked, hesitantly.

‘This is the way.’ She shivered, in her thin white dress. ‘A new life, for you! And I will be right beside you,’ she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aredhel's white dress canonically allows the pursuing Eol to find their tracks again at this point and has drawn comment. According to my take on the situation here, she wasn't wearing it out of carelessness, vanity or other reasons that have been suggested, but because she was worried that the guards of Gondolin would not recognize her otherwise. Certainly, Voronwe later on is very concerned that both Tuor and he will be killed as they approach Gondolin (his anxiety is emphasized in the version in the Unfinished Tales), so even at this earlier date there might appear to be a risk.
> 
> 2 x 100 words according to Word.  
> Written for two prompts of the New Challenge at Tolkien Weekly on LiveJournal: new clothes, new life.


End file.
